Automatic stop mechanism for looms



July 24, 1928.

Original Filed May '7, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1" INVEN TOR JO/Vflff/flA/l #0175 BY 144 M ATTOR N EYS WITNESS j w July 24, 1928. 1,677,899

J. LUCAS AUTOMATIC STOP MECHANIISII FOR LOOIS orisinal Filed v 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Jolmr/m/ L was BY w M ATTORNEYS WITNESS 4w? Patented July 24, 1928.

UNITED PATENT orrics.

JONATHAN LUCAS, SAVANNAH,.GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR TO LUCAS-LAMBORN LOOM CORPORATION, OI" YORK, N. Y.,-A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC S'LOP MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

Original application filed May 7, 1924,

The invention relates to looms and more particularly to electrically controlled looms and has'ior its object] to provide a simple and novel mechanism whereby the operation of the loom is automatically stopped in an eflicient manner each time a filler thread breaks. Other more specific objects will appear from the description hereinafter" and the features ofnovelty will be pointed out.

' show an example of the invention without defining itsinn'its, Fig. 1is front elevation of a loom embodying the'i'nvention; Fig. 2 s f agment y front iew ustrns the euto i at e p mechanism, a d F is a P a i mfl n n a g d s a b the shuttle shown in"Fig.2.' a

The loom may be'of any suitable construction and in its illustrated form comprises a support or frame'ln of conventional type prov d d with s d ng me nsiup n hl h h e proca ng mentsofthe shutt e P- erating mechanism are guided in "their operative movements. As shown inFig, 1 the guiding devices referred to consist of a plurality of rollers 16 and '16 arranged 111 spaced upper and lower series and j'ournalled upon suitable portions of theframelo, and serve as guides for-travelling carriers 17* and 17 which are arranged to be reciprocated upon'the rollers 16 and "beneath the rollers 16 as clearly shown in "11 The mechanism whereby the carriers 17 and "17 are'inoved toward and away from each other from one'extremeposition to another may be of any suitable type and, as shown, may comprise a pair of rocking arms 18 pivoted at 19 upon the frame 15 and conn'ec'ted, at one end by'inean's'of links 2.0, with the carriers 17 and 17 respectively. The other ends or said rocking arms 18. are connected, by means of connecting rods 21 with oppositely disposed cranks 22 forming part of a crank-shaft 23 journalled on the frame 15. The shaft 23 carries a pinion 24 which meshes with a gea'r 25 fixed upon a countershaft 26 also journalledon the frame 15 and operated with a source of power, either elec- Ser ial No. 711,581. Divided and this application filed February 15, 1921' Serial No. 168 25 5.

trically actuated such as an electric motoror suitably located upon the opposite longitudinalsidesof said shuttle 28. The arrangement is such that the shuttle is carried alternately by the fingers 27 and. 27 and conveyed thereby over "its operative paths. The shuttle 2S mayb'e'of any approved construction and in the illustrated form includes transversewalls provided with recesses in'which'the trunnions 81 of the. bobbin 32 are rotatab'ly andremovably accommodated; th'ebobbin 32 carries a'supply ofthe weft or fi l t r ad 614 1 I111 th'econstruction being described, the shuttle 28 is positively coupled to or conc d w th th hut e act ating m ns and disconnected therefrom at predetermined poin s'i t p ati e paths T me whereby this positive connection between the shuttle 'and itsoperating mechanism is maintained'and the disconnection is brouqht about in'alternate' sequence may be of diiierent structural characteristics, such as for instance illustratcd" in the several forms included in theapplication of which this is a division, s I

Thelooin also includes two sets of harness of anyrustomary type and consisting for instance of frames 33 in which the usual heddle wiresare supported; the latter carry the warp threads which are arranged in two sets in the 'wcll known manner and are manipulatedby the harness'so as to provide the usual'shed through which the shuttle 28 passes. The frames 33are carried by rods 34" connected together in pairs by means of cross-members and properly supported for vertical reciprocation in the loom. In the illustrated example, the mechanism whereby this reciprocation is effected comprises a double-faced cam 36 having duplicate cam grooves 37 arranged in reversed relation to each other upon its opposite faces; these grooves 37 accommodate rollers 38 rotatab'ly mounted upon the cross-members 35 andserving to transmit the mechanical movements of said cam 36 to the rods 35 and. the frames 33 carried thereby. As shown in Fig. 1 the arrangement is such that the cam grooves 37 will raise and lower the frames 33 in alternate sequence so as to reverse the positions of the two sets of warp threads in the customary manner.

In operation power isapplied to bring about a rotation of the shaft 26 and consequently a rotation of the cam 36; the latter, by means of its grooves 37 and the rollers 38, causes a vertical reciprocation of the two sets of harness 33 in alternate sequence and thus manipulates the two sets of warp threads to provide the shed for the shuttle 28 to pass through as will be set forth hereinafter.

As the shaft 26 is driven in the indicated manner, the gears 25 and 2 1 will transmit power to the shaft 23 whereby the oppositely disposed cranks 22 will be operated, and by alternately pulling and pushing upon the connecting rods 21 will rock the arms 18; this will alternately push and pull the links 20 and consequently will move the carriers 17 and 17 F toward and away from each other on the rollers 16 from extreme outer positions to, extreme inner positions and vice versa. In this way the shuttle 28 is passed.

backwardand forward through the shed of warp threads and the filler threads are progressively laid as the weaving proceeds. It will be understood that the harness frames 33 are operated in synchronism with the shuttle 28 so that upon each passage of the shuttle through the shed, theharness is operated to reverse the positions of the two sets of warp threads and the customary beater is actuated to pack the filler thread.

In order to automatically stop the operation in case the filler thread a breaks,the following arrangement is provided. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the thread a passes from the bobbin 32 beneath a resilient finger 39, which is carried by or forms part of an arm or lever 40 pivoted at 41 upon the shuttle 28. The one end of the arm or lever 40 is provided with a projection 42, movable adjacent to one of the transverse walls of the shuttle having anaperture or opening 13,-the other end 14 of said arm-being movable in the slot or opening 45 of another transverse wall of said shuttle. Upon opposite ends of the frame 15, slidable rods 16 and 16 are mounted, said rods being connected with switch arms 47 and 17 respectively; the latter are pivoted at 18 upon the frame 15 and each have one end normally in engagement with contact members 19 forming part of an electric circuit 50 which includes also the electrical controlling means such as the motor 51 whereby the loom is driven. As shown 1n Fig. 2, the circuit 50 further includes the switch arms 17 and 47 As long as the thread a remainsunbroken, the arm 410 will be held in the position shown by solid lines in Fig. 2 in. which the rod -16 simply passes through the aperture 13 each time the shuttle28 reaches its extreme lefthand position, while the rod e16 simply passes above the end 14. of the arm 10 each time the shuttle reaches itsrextreme righthand positionin Fig. 2. Should the thread 5 a, however, becomebroken and the tension thereon consequently released the arm 4E0 being overbalance'd toward its one end will assume the position shown by dotted linesin Fig. 2. In thisposition, the'projection 42 is located in registrycwith the aperture 13,, while the end 1 1 ispositioned 1n theupper portion of the slot45. If the shuttle at thetime of the breakage is moved toward the.

left in Fig. 2, the projection 12 will finally engage the end of the rod'46 and slidably shift the latter toward the left to move the switch arm 17 to the position indicated by dotted linesin Fig. 2 in which its end is disconnected from the contact 49 and'the electric circuit 50 consequently broken; if, at

the time of the breakagethe shuttle is mov ing toward the rightin Fig.2, the end l i. of the arm40 will engage the rOdAB? and likewiseslidably shift the latterfto swing the switch arm 47 to the dotted line positionin Fig. 2, in which it is disconnected from the contact member 49 and the circuit 50 accordingly is broken. In either case, stoppage of the loom is brought about the moment the shuttle reaches either one of its extreme outerpositions so that damage resulting from the brokenfillerthreadis prevented.

The automatic stop mechanism is constructed and arranged to operate withv a maximum ofefficiency and to reduce the danger of losses due to breakage necessitating shut downs, to a minimum. v

Various changes in the specific forms shown and described maybe made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Iclaim: j i p 1. In a. loom includingan electric controlling circuit, the combination of harness whereby a shed of warp threads isprovided,

a travelling shuttle carrying a supply of filler thread. means for passing said shuttle through said shed to place the filler thread in position, a lever on'said shuttle, clamping means on said lever whereby the'latter. is

connected with said filler thread and is held in an inoperative position as long as said filler thread isunder tension, said lever as-- surning an operative position when the filler thread breaks, and switching means adapted to be acted upon directly by said lever when in its operative position to break the electric circuit and stop the loom.

2. In a loom including an electric controlling circuit, the combination of a frame, a harness whereby a shed of warp threads is provided, a shuttle carrying a supply of filler thread, means for reciprocating said shuttle through said shed to place the filler thread in position, a lever pivotally mounted on said shuttle, means on said lever whereby the latter is connected with said filler thread and held in an inoperative position as long as said filler thread is under tension, said lever assuming an operative position when said filler thread breaks, a switch in said electric circuit, and a rod slidably mounted on said frame and arranged to be engaged by said lever when the latter is in its operative position, and slidably pushed to throw said switch and break the electric circuit. I r

3. In a loom including an electric con trolling circuit, the combination of a frame,

a harness whereby a shed of warp threads is provided, a shuttle carrying a supply of filler thread and provided with openings at its opposite ends, means for reciprocating said shuttle through said shed to place the filler thread in position, a lever 'pivotally mounted on said shuttle, a resilient finger on said lever whereby the latter is clamped to said filler thread and held thereby in an inoperative position in which the opposite ends of said lever are out of registry with said shuttle openings, said lever assuming an operative position with its opposite ends in registry with said openings when said filler thread breaks, switch arms on said frame and located in said electric circuit,

and rods slidably mounted on said frame in.

registry with said shuttle openings, and adapted to be engaged respectively by the opposite ends of said lever,vwhen the latter is in its operative position, and slidably' 

